The thing with Kepa that I find difficult to marry in my mind, is that I like him and have some respect for him, but don't particularly rate him.

I think his attitude these past few seasons has shown real strength of character. Going from "world record GK signing" to dropped for Willy Caballero and then replaced by Mendy (no disrespect to either), only to then work his way back into the starting eleven... can't help but respect him for that. Got his head down, worked hard, didn't whine. When he's in his absolute top form he's very good. But I agree with the overall sentiment here really, he's not at that elite level, his floor is too low even if his ceiling is fairly high.

The one thing I don't want to happen is for us to go and sign another promising GK on a crazy long contract like we did Kepa. Getting a GK thats a good fit can be quite finicky, even if we end up cycling through a couple over the next few years, I'd sooner see some brought on relatively short contracts (2+1, or similar) that we can then easily move on from if necessary, and offer long contracts to if they should prove themselves.

Just now, Argo said:

Under no metric is any version of Kepa even on the same stratesphere as 2021 Edou.

Kepa pulled out some worldie-quick-reaction saves last season to save the team even more embarrassment than it already was. Those saves were on par with anything Mendy did in his good 3 week period in 21.

12 minutes ago, Argo said:

Under no metric is any version of Kepa even on the same stratesphere as 2021 Edou.

You sure? 2021 Mendy compared to last years Kepa in a god awful team. Better save %, made almost double the amount of saves per game, has a positive post shot xG minus goals allowed compared to Mendy's negative etc. Mendy had a far better defence in front of him too.

6 minutes ago, Mod said:

Kepa pulled out some worldie-quick-reaction saves last season to save the team even more embarrassment than it already was. Those saves were on par with anything Mendy did in his good 3 week period in 21.

Mendy's finest hour however fleeting won us a UCL equalling the clean sheet record of that competition, Kepa's finest hour is being one of the best/less sh*t performers in a mid table Chelsea team (something Asmir Begovic also did).

We all know Kepa very well after 6 seasons. If we are no longer looking for top 4 and trophies he's an OK EPL level keeper. He makes some good saves from time to time but then again so did De Gea. Another mistake by Bully & Co imo not buying an élite keeper. Manager put up with LLoris's howlers and Levy not replacing him at Spuds so no surprise he's willing to accept mediocrity in goal.

26 minutes ago, Mod said:

Mendy, in this lifetime, is in no way better than Kepa! He can't even kick a ball! That's why Kepa is still here and Mendy isn't.

We dropped Mendy for, at that time, a very out-of-form Kepa who hadn't played properly for months.

You must be on drugs look what we won with mendy so good with your feet makes you a good goalkeeper not that he can’t save long shots or comes for corners or crosses and weak wrists and 2 short must be another one of kepas brothers 🤔

1 minute ago, Argo said:

Mendy's finest hour however fleeting won us a UCL equalling the clean sheet record of that competition, Kepa's finest hour is being one of the best/less sh*t performers in a mid table Chelsea team (something Asmir Begovic also did).

Put Kepa in that final and we still would've won! And with less shaky clearances wth the foot!

To further the above stats, here's another little one I found from early last season.

Mendy has gone and it's just pissing in the wind debating it now.

 

2 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

You sure? 2021 Mendy compared to last years Kepa in a god awful team. Better save %, made almost double the amount of saves per game, has a positive post shot xG minus goals allowed compared to Mendy's negative etc. Mendy had a far better defence in front of him too.

Check Begovic 15-16 and I bet he'd compare favourably against some seasons of Cech and Courtois. Playing for a mid table side (which we were last season) compared to a top 4 side with the intention of challenging for big honours is a totally different mental game.

Also there's not just shot stopping to factor, there was the ariel dominance Edou brought (we went from being the weakest team in the league at set pieces to arguably the strongest) and the difference in mindset it gave the opposition, I remember watching Liverpool away that season (a team that was feasting on Kepa from range the two season's prior) and I remember Wijnaldium lining up to shoot from around 30 yards then deciding against it.

26 minutes ago, cfr95 said:

his floor is too low even if his ceiling is fairly high.
 

You'd have thought he'd be able to afford simple home improvements on the wages he's on!

4 minutes ago, Mod said:

Put Kepa in that final and we still would've won! And with less shaky clearances wth the foot!

To further the above stats, here's another little one I found from early last season.

Mendy has gone and it's just pissing in the wind debating it now.

 

Put kepa in that final and we would ave won 🤣🤣🤣🤣 you must be on the funny fags 🤭

5 minutes ago, Is good blues said:

You must be on drugs look what we won with mendy so good with your feet makes you a good goalkeeper not that he can’t save long shots or comes for corners or crosses and weak wrists and 2 short must be another one of kepas brothers 🤔

I'm on drugs and one of Kepa's brothers because I rate Kepa over mushroom-mittens Mendy?

You ok hun?

1 minute ago, Is good blues said:

Put kepa in that final and we would ave won 🤣🤣🤣🤣 you must be on the funny fags 🤭

And I don’t give a monkeys about stats I’ve watched Chelsea for 55yrs when kepa is in goal iam a nervous wreck get rid don’t even won’t him as a no 2

2 minutes ago, Mod said:

Put Kepa in that final and we still would've won! And with less shaky clearances wth the foot!

To further the above stats, here's another little one I found from early last season.

Mendy has gone and it's just pissing in the wind debating it now.

 

That's assuming Kepa would have found Chilwell on the wing!

I'm not arguing Mendy had lost whatever he had after the League Cup final, my point of defense is the first season and a half.

3 minutes ago, Mod said:

I'm on drugs and one of Kepa's brothers because I rate Kepa over mushroom-mittens Mendy?

You ok hun?

Yea fine kepas brother 

Just now, Is good blues said:

Yea fine kepas brother 

I'm not sure you grasp how debating on a forum actually works?

Quote

"Mendy is better than Kepa"

"No, here are some stats and opinions from a few people"

"you're on drugs.... funny fags.... Kepa's brother.... My opinion only matters because I watched Chelsea since they were created"

 

You are probably better off leaving it to Argo to make the point!

2 minutes ago, Mod said:

I'm not sure you grasp how debating on a forum actually works?

 

You are probably better off leaving it to Argo to make the point!

Maybe I will that don’t change the point kepa is a poor goalkeeper I think your mums calling you for a nappy change ✌️

The wit around here is coruscating.

2 minutes ago, Is good blues said:

Maybe I will that don’t change the point kepa is a poor goalkeeper I think your mums calling you for a nappy change ✌️

More put-downs! Cute that!

The point wasn’t whether Kepa is poor or not, you said Mendy was better!

I don’t think he is that poor or that brilliant, but he is better than Mendy!

4 minutes ago, Is good blues said:

Maybe I will that don’t change the point kepa is a poor goalkeeper I think your mums calling you for a nappy change ✌️

I don't have any skin in this argument - but coming on here and mouthing off after a handful of posts isnt going to win you many fans on here.

If you rated Mendy over Kepa, that is your prerogative. But cut out the crap and make the argument in a grown up way.

For its worth, I fully agree with @Mod on this one.

Kepa, for all his faults, is a better all around keeper than Mendy. He is better at shot stopping, better at pens, better leadership and better with the ball at his feet.  I dont rate him particularly highly, but certainly higher than post top form Mendy.

3 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

I don't have any skin in this argument - but coming on here and mouthing off after a handful of posts isnt going to win you many fans on here.

If you rated Mendy over Kepa, that is your prerogative. But cut out the crap and make the argument in a grown up way.

For its worth, I fully agree with @Mod on this one.

Kepa, for all his faults, is a better all around keeper than Mendy. He is better at shot stopping, better at pens, better leadership and better with the ball at his feet.  I dont rate him particularly highly, but certainly higher than post top form Mendy.

Well tuchal didn’t rate him better or frank he brought mendy potter did and the rest is history 

I think Mendy gets a really bum rap on here.

He was much better for us than many posters make out.

Did he go off the boil ? Sure.  But you can't take away that in his first sixty odd games he was the business.

The main reason I think he was sold rather than Kepa is that Kepa is on £175K a week and has a decent chunk of his ridiculous transfer fee still on our books, Not good for us to sell him on an FFP basis, even if (and that's a big if) we could find another club to take him on on those kind of wages. 

I like Kepa though. He seems like a decent character, and certainly none of the keepers offered up as his replacement are any better than he is ... 

2 hours ago, Is good blues said:

You said things ? cost us another cup final when wouldnt come off you must be kepas brother 

So now we are moving the goalposts? You asked me what he won with us, I answered your question. I'll add Super Cup to that as well.

1 hour ago, cfr95 said:

The thing with Kepa that I find difficult to marry in my mind, is that I like him and have some respect for him, but don't particularly rate him.

I think his attitude these past few seasons has shown real strength of character. Going from "world record GK signing" to dropped for Willy Caballero and then replaced by Mendy (no disrespect to either), only to then work his way back into the starting eleven... can't help but respect him for that. Got his head down, worked hard, didn't whine. When he's in his absolute top form he's very good. But I agree with the overall sentiment here really, he's not at that elite level, his floor is too low even if his ceiling is fairly high.

The one thing I don't want to happen is for us to go and sign another promising GK on a crazy long contract like we did Kepa. Getting a GK thats a good fit can be quite finicky, even if we end up cycling through a couple over the next few years, I'd sooner see some brought on relatively short contracts (2+1, or similar) that we can then easily move on from if necessary, and offer long contracts to if they should prove themselves.

I agree with parts of this but massively disagree with the bold parts.

Kepa's biggest problem is he isn't very talented, he has an extremely low ceiling much lower than the requirements of a keeper for any serious club.  Even at his best he's still going to single handedly lose you 4 or 5 games a season like he did for us this year because he's fundamentally incapable of dealing with the crosses or long shots he'll face over a season even at his absolute peak he doesn't get near thing other PL keeper look routine and he's still going to be poor with his feet Despite people pretending otherwise which I'm assuming is because he's short and Spanish.

I'd be happy to sign a promising keeper providing they're actually a promising keeper. Kepa wasn't very good in Spain. He wasn't very promising he was the kind of keeper that typically spends his career at Elche or Osasuna without anyone outside of spain knowing him.  Why we decided to pay £72m for a player who had a 20 million Euro release clause a few months earlier I'll never know but Kepa has never been a player with the talent to play at the top even if he has a good attitude.

I'm not sure many people here would want Unai Simon who's a fairly average keeper but he's rightfully benching Kepa for Spain because Kepa just isn't good enough if you want to be competitive not at International level or at PL level which is even higher.

I think those wonder boys who are the directors in charge are not looking to sign a new goalie, hoping one of the gazillion young keepers we have is ready to step up.

48 minutes ago, Whats_The_Mata? said:

He wasn't very promising he was the kind of keeper that typically spends his career at Elche or Osasuna without anyone outside of spain knowing him.

I know a lot of Elche fans many of them season ticket holders. They have a big ex-pat following in the Alicante area.

Bamos Los Franjiverdes!